FAQ

Q: What is ‘fluency’?

Being ‘fluent’ in English means that you have enough language skills to confidently handle any situation in English. There are many definitions of fluency, but they all have in common the ability to speak and write a language:

easily

smoothly

accurately

quickly, with minimal pauses

confidently, with expertise

to be understood by others with the same level of confidence

Q: How do I know if I am fluent in English?

A good guideline would be if you can answer ‘yes’ to all or most of these:

Can you easily join and be an active participant in any conversation?

Can you write clear text in any style you need to?

Do you have difficulty understanding any kind of spoken English?

Can you easily read and understand all forms of writing you need to?

Can others understand you easily in all of these things?

Q: Who is Fluency Bridge for?

Fluency Bridge wholeheartedly supports anyone who wishes to become fluent in English. That having been said, Fluency Bridge was created specifically to support adults:

who have completed LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) Levels 1-8 (Beginner to Intermediate)

who would like further support for LINC Levels 9-12 (Advanced to Fluent), for which there is currently little or no further support

who don’t have time to attend group classes because they are busy with their families and/or work

who can express themselves in English well enough but sometimes still have difficulties when trying to discuss complex topics

who can speak English quite well but still have difficulties expressing themselves in writing

who feel held back in their careers because of language barriers

Q: How can Fluency Bridge help me become fluent in English better than a group class?

By allowing you to focus on the area(s) of English you find the most difficult in your home, office, via Skype, or place of choice, with your own personal language coach to support you every step of the way.

Because it’s one-on-one, you’ll get more individual practice and feedback than in a group class. While there are benefits of group classes, this should help you get better results and improve faster than in a group class.

Q: Why does Fluency Bridge only offer services to adults?

There are already many tutoring centres that cater to kindergarten to grade 12 students in Vancouver, but none that specializes only in adults. There are language schools who cater to mostly adults, but they are for international students who come to Vancouver to study English full time.

Most working adults or parents who live in Canada don’t have time or energy to study English full time. I created Fluency Bridge to service these underserviced adult new Canadians. Many adults who have moved to Canada from other countries already sacrifice so much for their children and families to be here. Someone needs to help them too.

Adults are role models for their children and future generations. So if we want a more connected, more united Canada for the future we need to better support adult new Canadians now. This is why Fluency Bridge has chosen to specialize in services for adults.

Q: Why was Fluency Bridge created?

The world is a divided place. Many in the USA and other countries want to put up walls, many in Canada are divided on topics as diverse as climate change, religion, education, the economy… the list goes on. Language is another very real “wall” that separates people from each other. Very literally, if we don’t speak the same language we can only communicate with each other on the most basic levels.

Fluency Bridge was created to connect people and this is why I chose the company name and tagline: “Connecting cultures.” We should be trying to connect on the things that unite us, like language, not putting up walls that divide us further.

Q: How is Fluency Bridge different from other tutoring centres?

Fluency Bridge does things differently from other tutoring centres in 3 ways:

There are currently no “adults only” ESL tutoring centres in Vancouver. Fluency Bridge is proud to be Vancouver’s first!

Free LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) classes for adults only cover CLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks Levels 1-8, which is from Beginner to Intermediate level. Fluency Bridge covers Levels 9-12 (Advanced to Fluent). There are currently no other tutoring Centres in Vancouver which specialize exclusively in these areas.

Fluency Bridge focuses on Canadian culture. I registered the business name as “Fluency Bridge Canadian English Language Services” as I think there are nuances to the English language only used in Canada, and more specifically, in Vancouver, BC, where Fluency Bridge operates. Some other tutoring centres offer adult tutoring, but none have this focus on Canadian culture.

Q: What is Fluency Bridge’s mission?

To empower all who have immigrated to Canada by supporting their efforts to become fluent in English.

Q: What is Fluency Bridge’s vision?

That no Canadian feel disconnected from their community because of ethnicity or language barriers.